Mangalore : Deputy Inspector General of Police (Western Range) Gopal Hosur on Tuesday, April 28 said that complete bandobast of Naxal-affected area in three districts, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Chikmagalur has been undertaken with special security in place.

Addressing media persons, Hosur said that the naxal influence is being witnessed under 20 police station limits and 81 villages. In a total of 162 polling stations special security by deploying 10 to 15 police personnel has been provided to enable about 1 lakh voters exercise their franchise without any fear. The police personnel have also been provide with adequate modern weapons, he said.

Deputy Inspector - Gopal - hosur

This apart, route survey in these area is being undertaken for every two to three hours with video cameras and thermal images made use of in the night. At the high altitude areas police stations have been set up. Further, personnel trained in ambush, counter attack and investigation have been deployed in anti-naxal force, he said.

Mangalore : Janata Dal (S) District President Balaraj Rai joined Congress party in the presence of former Chief Minister M Veerappa Moily at the Election Office, Nantoor in Mangalore on Tuesday April 28.

M Veerappa Moily and District President Balaraj Rai

Addressing nedia persons after joining the party, he said that the recent developments in the party forced him to join Congress. Further he added that JD (S) has no future in Dakshina Kannada.

After the mass a felicitation function was held in the church hall, presided over by the Bishop. He congratulated the new priests and wished all the success for their future mission. Bela parish priest Basil Vaz raised the toast. Puttur parish priest Rev Fr Jerald D’Souza, Rev Fr Boniface Pinto, many priests and sisters graced the function.

Fr. Anil Joel D’Souza is the son of Francis and Magdeline D’Souza of Puttur Pariesh. Fr Avi D’Cunha is the son of Rameze D’cuna and Late Maurice D’Cunha of Maril Parish.

Mangalore : 3 Deacons ordained as priests on 28th April, 2009 at 3.30 pm by his Lordship Rt Rev Robert Michael Miranda, Bishop of Gulbarga Diocese. The Ordination ceremony was held at God the Holy Spirit church, Bajal, Mangalore in the presence of near and dear ones of the newly-ordained and hundreds of devotees. Several diocesan priests, nuns and religious brothers and sisters were present on the occasion.

The new Priests were:
Anil William Crasta S/o Late Ciril Crasta and Leena Crasta of Bajal Parish Robert Crasta S/o Sylvester Crasta and Tereja crasta of Ukkinadka Parish David D’Souza S/o Kaitan D’Souza and Nathalia Rodrigues of Narampady Parish.

Udupi : Former Chief Minister and chairperson of AICC Media Cell M. Veerappa Moily said on Tuesday that the Congress might go for an alliance with the Left parities, if it fell short of majority mark after the Lok Sabha elections.

Mr. Moily told presspersons here that he expected the Congress to get 200 seats, while its partners in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) might get another 100 seats. Hence, the UPA would form the Government. In case of a shortfall, the Congress might join hands with the Left parties in the interest of secularism. “In 2004 also, we had some pre-poll allies and post-poll allies. We cannot rule out such a possibility,” he added.

There were no two opinions about Prime Ministerial candidate in the Congress. Even leaders such as Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan, and Sharad Pawar, had said that Manmohan Singh had done a good job as Prime Minister, especially in the light of global economic meltdown, he said.

Former Chief Minister - Veerappa Moily

He said there were controversies in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its Prime Ministerial candidate. While some leaders had said that L.K. Advani was the Prime Ministerial candidate, some second-rung leaders, including Arun Shourie, were suggesting Narendra Modi’s name, he added.

The Byndoor Assembly segment is part of Shimoga parliamentary constituency.
Nearly 4,500 officials had been trained in the election duty. There would be four staff members, including a policeman, for every booth. An additional staff would be provided at booths where the number of voters would be in excess of 1,200 prescribed for each booth by the Election Commission, she said.

Mangalore : The Dakshina Kannada police have readied a security deployment plan for 1,518 polling stations of Dakshina Kannada Parliamentary Constituency where the elections are to be held on Thursday, April 30.

Speaking to media persons, Superintendent of Police A Subrahmanyeshwar Rao informed that 9 DySPs, 30 circle inspectors and officers, 150 police sub-inspectors and ASIs, 350 head constables, 1,580 police constables and 900 home guards will be on duty.

This apart, 8 DAR parties and 8 KSRP platoons will be placed at strategic locations. Four central police force companies with 100 officials in each of them will be on duty. The Andhra Pradhesh special police force as well as CRP forces will be deployed at Belthangady due to their experience in the Naxal area. Two companies from the Kerala Police will be placed at Ullal and Bantwal. A mobile squad with 15 to 20 PSI rank officers will also be in place. Public can SMS the police on cell phone no 9886666100 and give their complaints with regard to polling conduct. The action taken will be duely conveyed through SMS to the complainant, said Rao. After elections too this number will be available for the service of the public, he added.

Mangalore : Deputy Commissioner and Returning Officer V Ponnuraj said on Monday, April 27 that election machinery is all set for polls on April 30 in 17-Dakshina Kannada Parliamentary Constituency with electoral roll marked copy ready in five legislative assembly constituencies and in three of the other being given final touches.

Addressing media persons DC Ponnuraj said that in 1,518 polling stations a total of 7,500 direct staff in polling duty will be involved with three phases of their training fully complete. Rehearsals too have been undertaken of transporting them to their respective polling stations, he said.

He informed that party campaign will end on April 28 at 5 pm and there on party’s can involve themselves in door-to-door one-to-one contact with Sec 144 too in place. From April 28, 5 pm to April 30, 5 pm it is also declared as dry day, he added.

SMS based data collection in polling stations:
In 1,470 polling stations SMS-based data collection will be done. Presiding officer and Assistant Presiding Officer are provided training in this regard. Within 15 minutes from the beginning of the polling, each booth have been asked to SMS information and from there on every one hour a report to the Election Commission needs to be sent. For the purpose, SMS allowance too will be provided to the staff. The errors will be rectified contacting the control room, informed Ponnuraj.

District level control rooms have been set up with about 30 officers functioning. There are 11 landline numbers and 4 mobile numbers. To avoid any problems due breakdown of service providers, the district administration has decided to used various service providers like the BSNL, Reliance and Tata Indicom, so that even if the server of one service is down there are other alternatives. Control rooms at the Assistant Returning Officer level have also been set up so that people can file complaints.

The SMS server will be connected to the media centre that will update every hour the poll percentage.